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Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain Parks photograph collection

 Collection
Identifier: P2190

Scope and Contents

Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain Parks Collection contains one black photograph album of images depicting Western natural parks and tourist destinations in the 1920s. Most of the prints were commercially produced. About 40 images depict Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, while about 90 depict Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, and nearby areas such as Estes Park and Thompson Canyon.

Dates

  • 1920-1930

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain Parks photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.

Historical Note

The Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain Parks Photograph Collection consists of one photograph album of prints of Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain National Parks in the 1920s compiled by an unknown individual. The majority of the prints were commercially produced by the official photographers of their respective parks: Frank Jay (F.Jay) Haynes and his son Jack Ellis Haynes of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; and Fred Payne (F.P.) Clatworthy of Estes Park, Colorado. The album is relevant to the history of promotion and tourism in the national parks of the American West.

Yellowstone Park became the United States’ first national park in 1872. In 1881, F. Jay Haynes, a Minnesota photographer working as official photographer for the Northern Pacific Railway, first visited Yellowstone. Several years later, in 1884 and 1897, Haynes leased land from the park to build stores to sell his photography commercially. Haynes and his son published guide books to Yellowstone annually until 1966. After Haynes’ death, his son Jack Ellis Haynes expanded the family’s stores, adding photo finishing services, photography supplies, and other retail items, as well as dormitories for employees. The Haynes family sold the business in 1968, and in 1999, the National Park Service purchased the buildings. (Ref: “Haynes Photo Shops,” National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/historyculture/haynesphotoshops.htm).

Rocky Mountain National Park was established in 1915. The majority of the prints collected in the album were produced by Fred Payne (F.P.) Clatworthy, a photographer and major promoter of the park and the nearby town Estes Park, of which he was the second mayor. Clatworthy opened his business, Ye Lyttle Shop, in 1905, which sold not only photographs, but also served as a curio shop and general store. Clatworthy was a pioneer of autochromes, an early form of color photography, and licensed autochromes of various parks in the American West to railroad companies, as well as to the National Geographic Magazine. In 1917, Clatworthy presented his work before the United States Congress as part of a successful lobby to expand the area of Rocky Mountain National Park. (Ref: Adrienne Evans, “Introducing the Fred Payne Clatworthy Collection,” History Colorado, February 27, 2017, https://www.historycolorado.org/story/collections-library/2017/02/27/introducing-fred-payne-clatworthy-collection).

Extent

130 Items (1 box)

Abstract

One black photograph album containing 130 commercial prints of Western parks and tourist destinations dating from the 1920s. The images were arranged by geographic location by the unknown compiler of the album; the primary areas are Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, and Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, and its surrounding areas, such as Estes Park and Big Thompson Canyon. In addition to landscapes of the parks, the images depict resorts and hotels, campers and tourists, and animals, as well as some general images of the National Highway on the east coast.

Arrangement

Arranged by subject

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Ronald L. Fox in 2018.

Processing Information

Processed by Claire A. Kempa in 2021.
Title
Guide to the Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain Parks photograph collection, 1920-1930
Author
Finding aid created by Claire A. Kempa
Date
© 2021
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863